Prospective students who received application materials for Carnegie-Mellon University (CMU), Pennsylvania, in 1976 and 1978 but did not apply for admission were surveyed to determine student background factors or attitudes that may have influenced their choice of colleges to which they applied. Findings include the following: nonapplicants applied to and planned to attend schools also liked by CMU admitted students; nonapplicants applied to about one fewer colleges than CMU admitted students; and nonapplicants had high Scholastic Aptitude Test scores like CMU admittees elsewhere. Nonapplicants may have opinions similar to admitted students about the strengths and weaknesses of an institution but may have different attitudes about the institution concerning distance from home, desirability of location, and cost. In general, the results have indicated that CMU has a competitive position with other major institutions. Based on the view that a variety of programs or policy changes will be required to increase the university's ratio of applicants from those who request application materials, interested prospective students can now receive an estimate of their net cost from CMU before they apply. Additionally, an experiment has been conducted to compare admissions results in areas where high schools are visited by CMU with similar areas where no visit occurs. (SW)